GHQ attack case: Convicts seek documents from military court

LHC had previously rejected their pleas based on input from Judge Advocate General.

ISLAMABAD:

Four men convicted for their roles in the 2009 terrorist attacks on General Headquarters (GHQ) filed an appeal with the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday, asking for the provision of documents from their military trial’s proceedings.

On February 16, the high court had rejected their appeals. Aqeel Ahmed alias Dr Usman, Muhammad Usman alias Ishfaq, Wajid Mehmood and Muhammad Khaleequr Rehman challenged the verdict and urged the court to direct the military authorities to try them.

A two-member bench will take up the intra-court appeals on Thursday (today).

Making the defence secretary and Judge Advocate General (JAG) as respondents, the petitioners have urged the two-member bench to set aside the earlier order and stop the military authorities from constituting an army court of appeal to hear the pleas of the convicted men without any material in their defence.

The LHC’s earlier ruling was based on the response from the JAG, who said the chief of army staff (COAS) had denied the provision of trial documents to the convicted men under army rules.

The petitioners stated before the court that on March 1, JAG wrote a letter asking them to appear before an Army Court of Appeal on March 10 for the final hearing of their appeals against the August 11 Field General Court Marshal (FGCM) decision.

The military authorities had charged Ahmed, Rehman, Usman, Mehmood, and Imran Siddiqi, Muhammad Adnan and Muhammad Tahir Shafique with 17 different charges ranging from murder, terrorism and taking hostages, to deserting the army and launching an attack on the armed forces on October 10, 2009.

In August 2011, the court sentenced Ahmed to death, Siddiqi, Rehman, Usman and Mehmood to life, and the other two to 10-year jail terms.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2012.